The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) is an excuse for astrophysicists the world over to share their expertise with the general public and increase interest and understanding of science. Highlights have included seminars, public observing experiences, a 24 hour live online tour through the world's telescopes and the Japanese contribution ....

... the astronomical toilet paper.

Whether their painfully intensive education system has made the Japanese view each second of the day as a potential learning experience or whether this stems from their obsessively high tech lavatory design, the observatories in Japan have produced a toilet roll covered with astronomical facts. Want to know what a molecular cloud is (ironically useful for my own work)? No problem, it's panel one. What about how a planetary nebular forms? Unless you had curry last night, you may be waiting a bit for this morsel of knowledge because it's not until sheet six. (Oh I am so not making this up, they have a website and everything.)

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to enjoy the satisfaction of wiping my arse with my research. (So much softer than ApJ).